A Keepsake Edition
Fascinating of Folks Delavan 2019
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FASCINATING FOLKS OF DELAVAN 2019
Quilt holds special meaning for local woman The top was given to her mother 85 years ago on an Indian reservation Elfrieda “Eda” Vriezen is a resident of Ridgestone Apartments in Delavan. In the 1930s, her parents rented farmland on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in Todd County, S.D. “There was a good relationship with the Native Americans there,” she said. “My mother frequently traded things, such as her homemade bread and fresh butter, with the Indian ladies. In one of those trades, she received a large, handsewn quilt top,” she added. In the frugal days of the Great Depression, according to Vriezen, these quilts were made of salvageable parts of worn garments that had been discarded. Eda Vriezen holds a quilt that her niece recently finished, years after the top, which was given to her mother by Sioux Indians on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, had been in Vriezen’s family for years. SUBMITTED PHOTO Fascinating Folks
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“Although some of the pieces were only an inch wide, none went to waste, but were pieced together to make quilts,” she explained. In 1936-37, the farmers in Todd County succumbed to crop failures due to dust storms and grasshoppers so Vriezen’s parents moved to the farmlands of Wisconsin. The hand-sewn quilt top was folded, put into a drawer, accompanied each move the family made. During a moment of nostalgia, the quilt was recently brought to light. Vriezen’s niece, Lisa, who does a lot of quilting, offered to take the quilt and finish it so she reinforced areas that needed attention, backed it, finished it with a border and had it quilted. She decided that it should be a gift to Eda, who was almost 8 years old when the family moved from Rosebud. Vriezen said the quilt has become a treasured heirloom and there are many families living in the Delavan and Darien areas whose parents at one time lived on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. “You will recognize names such as Logterman, Hiemstra, Los, Sterken, Risseeuw and Vriezen – all familiar with the stories of life in Todd County, South Dakota during the early 1930s,” she said.
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SUBMITTED PHOTO Fascinating Folks
Delavan Fire Department Captain Tom O’Neill is hugged and thanked by Tom and Rita Cubert, the parents of a 3-year-old he saved by performing CPR at Sunset Pool in Elkhorn last summer.
‘Being in the right place’ By Heather Ruenz STAFF WRITER
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June 23 is a day Delavan Fire Department Captain Tom O’Neill will never forget. On that day he did something not many people can say they have. He saved a life. “I was at a kids’ birthday party, at the pool at Sunset Park (in Elkhorn) and heard someone screaming about a child being in the bottom of the pool,” O’Neill recalled. The girl was pulled up and when they got her out of the water she wasn’t breathing so O’Neill performed mouth-tomouth resuscitation. “Eventually she coughed and then started breathing. She was 3 years old – the same age as my daughter. They’re both 4 years old now and will actually go to school together,” O’Neill said. He said there were a lot of people at the pool at that time and the lifeguards did a great job at getting everyone out of the pool and out of the way and calling 911. By the time the ambulance arrived, the little girl’s mom was holding her. “Besides getting her back, the best news was that she had no neurological deficits at all, like it never happened,” O’Neill said.
While it wasn’t his first save – O’Neill is an RN-Paramedic and firefighter and works as a trauma nurse at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee – it was special nonetheless and O’Neill is just thankful he was able to help. “With it being a little kid and I didn’t have my bag of goodies with me because we were at the pool so it was just me and my hands and my mouth. It was all about timing and being in the right place and just by breathing and a little resuscitation I brought her back to life,” he said. He estimates it was 10 minutes or so before EMS arrived on the scene and said if the girl hadn’t received CPR as soon as she did, her chances of survival would have been slim, if at all. “This is a good reminder that people should learn CPR because you never know when or where it might be needed,” O’Neill said. He was awarded the Medal of Valor by the City of Delavan Fire Department at the annual awards banquet held recently. The parents of the girl he saved came to the awards banquet and helped present the medal to O’Neill. “That made it even more special, that they were part of it,” he said.
Delavan FD captain given Medal of Valor for saving girl’s life
SUBMITTED PHOTO Fascinating Folks
Delavan Fire Department Captain Tom O’Neill (far right) is awarded the Medal of Valor by Assistant Chief Bob Chapman and Chief Tim O’Neill, at City of Delavan Fire Department’s annual awards banquet.
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FASCINATING FOLKS OF DELAVAN 2019
Mom follows God’s lead to create Avery’s House Home for girls in Haiti opened to fulfill late daughter’s dream By Vicky Wedig STAFF WRITER
God had been chasing Bridget McCarthy her whole life. He caught up with her in her darkest hour. On Oct. 24, 2012, three police officers knocked on the door of McCarthy’s Delavan home. One of them took her then-3-year-old son Brody into his room to play, and another, Sgt. Robert Hall, told McCarthy her daughters had been in a car accident, and her 11-year-old daughter, Avery, did not survive. “My world went so dark, and it was like every part of me went into this deep vacuum, this deep pit,” McCarthy said. In that moment, she said – when her external world fell silent, still and hazy despite sound and movement in reality – a strange light and warmth rose from inside her. She described the feeling as warm like honey. “I knew right then that Avery was in heaven,” she said. “I knew it was the Holy Spirit. “That day, I was like, ‘You’ve got me Lord, I’m here.’”
The chase McCarthy, a single mother of three children with multiple fathers, said she’d made bad choices that led to her circumstances. The extent of her relationship with God went something like this: “Lord, why on Earth do I have these kids I can’t afford? Why is the electrical out? Why is my life so horrible?” she said. In 2001, McCarthy gave birth to her second child – a girl, Avery Johanna – who had an inexplicable love for the Lord. “I don’t know where she got it,” she said. But, Avery, pushed for the family to go to church and pray before meals, and, although she didn’t ask for much, she pushed to attend Delavan Christian School, McCarthy said.
Avery Step You Take 5K set for June 14 The sixth annual Avery Step You Take 5K begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 14, at Delavan Christian School, 848 Oak St., Delavan. The fun run/walk supports AVERYday Ministries programs, including mission trips to Haiti, and raising funds to continue to support a transitional home for girls (ages 18 to 25) in Port de Paix, Haiti, called The Avery House. Registration begins at 5:15 p.m. Those wishing to run/race either course (5K or 1.5 mile) will start first. Those wishing to walk either course will start second.
McCarthy found Avery’s faith strange and quirky and spoke little about it. “I was this cool, hip young mom,” she said. “I didn’t have room for Jesus in my life.”
The last day On the morning of Oct. 24, 2012, Avery asked her mom if she would brush her hair. McCarthy said mothers of daughters know how special it is when independent girl ask for such a bonding act. As McCarthy brushed her daughter’s hair, not knowing it would be the last time, “I thought she is so beautiful,” she said. As mom and daughter got in the car to take Avery to school day, McCarthy caught herself looking at her daughter and imagining how she’d look as a teenager. On the way to Delavan Christian School, McCarthy and Avery cranked up Avery’s
Avery Johanna McCarthy
VICKY WEDIG Fascinating Folks
Bridget McCarthy talks about the work of Avery Day Ministries to the congregation at Christian Reformed Church in Delavan last year.
favorite music and sang loudly to Christian artist Jamie Grace’s song “God Girl.” When McCarthy stopped the car to let Avery out at school, Avery stopped for a moment and said, “You know Mom, I really am a God girl,” McCarthy said. McCarthy watched her daughter as she skipped into school, “and I thought this kid is so weird,” she said, smiling. That day, instead of switching the radio to her own style of music, McCarthy listened to “Avery’s music” on her way to work. At 6 p.m. that day, Avery and her sister, Jadrian, were scheduled to arrive home from Avery’s gymnastics practice in Whitewater. At 6:10 p.m., McCarthy got worried. Avery had youth group that night, and McCarthy knew she would never be late for that. “I remember just knowing that something wasn’t right,” she said. She put a shout out to family and friends on Facebook. “I said, ‘I can’t find the girls,’” she said. Her support system told her everything was probably fine –
they were just late. But, McCarthy’s nagging feeling grew when she called police to ask whether there had been an accident, and the dispatcher asked for little information from her but told her officers would be in touch. At 8:15 p.m., officers knocked on her door and delivered the news that changed her world.
Picking up the pieces
After losing her middle child, McCarthy struggled to keep it together. She still had two children to raise – one just a toddler, and one who couldn’t be left alone because she felt such guilt being the driver in the crash that ended her sister’s life. One Saturday when McCarthy couldn’t take it anymore, she went out for a drive and ended up in the Shopko parking lot, sobbing. As she sat there, she found in the car a handwritten letter from her daughter that said, “I am here with you always. I will never forget about you. Do you know Jesus? I do.”
FASCINATING FOLKS OF DELAVAN 2019
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Avery had written the note a few weeks earlier after McCarthy had taken her daughter to a concert. She had a little extra spending money for Avery and asked whether she wanted to buy some concert souvenirs, but Avery instead wanted to spend the money to sponsor a child, McCarthy said. At the concert were rows of pictures of children from third-world countries that donors could pay to sponsor. McCarthy said Avery examined the table, looking intently at the pictures as though she were searching for something she’d lost. “She seemed to know something I didn’t,” she said. Instead of choosing a cute 2-year-old to sponsor, Avery selected a “scary-looking older kid” named Alfonsine, McCarthy said. Avery had written the note to Alfonsine, whom McCarthy later learned lost her best friend the day before Avery died and whose birthday is the day before Avery’s. “There was something Avery knew at that table,” she said.
The path to a dream After Avery’s death, McCarthy found drawings in her daughter’s room that illustrated her love for Haiti and vowed to rescue its citizens. “I don’t know why an 11-year-old girl thinks she can save a country, but whatever,” she said. McCarthy decided to start a ministry in her daughter’s name called AveryDay Ministries and raise money for Haiti to do her part toward Avery’s goal. A few weeks before mother-daughter duo Trish and Gabby Edwards were to leave for Haiti to administer the funds AveryDay Ministries raised, Amber Bachelier, who worked at an orphanage in Mirebalais, contacted McCarthy and said the orphanage needed children’s clothing. Bachelier was bold enough to ask whether McCarthy was interested in donating any of Avery’s clothes. McCarthy thought of Avery’s shoes. Avery never asked for much, McCarthy said. She was content with hand-me-downs and non-name-brand items, but insisted on a certain new pair of tennis shoes, she said. When McCarthy had to choose the outfit to bury her daughter in, she knew right away the jeans, t-shirt and those new shoes that she wanted to put Avery in, but, when it came time to dress her daughter, McCarthy stopped at the shoes. Seeing her hesitation, funeral director Mark Monroe suggested McCarthy put a pair of her own socks on her daughter’s feet and save the shoes. Shortly thereafter, Delavan resident Anna Terpstra Lohse called McCarthy and asked her to accompany a group on a medical mission to Haiti. McCarthy hadn’t looked at Haiti on a map and had never considered traveling to the country herself, but Lohse told McCarthy she thought God wanted her to go. However, Lohse told McCarthy, the deadline to sign up was the next day and the organizer was difficult to get ahold of, but McCarthy assured Lohse she would give him a try. He answered on the first ring, and McCarthy was bound for Haiti in March 2014. “I was thoroughly convinced God had called me,” she said. But, she said, “I did not understand how God was going to change my life through this trip.” Once in Haiti, the group traveling on a winding gravel road up one side of a mountain and down the other to an orphanage where armed guards stood with what looked like Civil War-era weapons. She was introduced to a woman who began sobbing when she saw McCarthy, hugged her tight and whispered, “I have your daughter’s shoes.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO Fascinating Folks
The Avery House for girls in Haiti with its modern, higher-end construction stands in contrast to typical homes in Haiti and has an emphasis on security with a wall surrounding the home.
McCarthy reflected on the circumstances that led her to that place – Bachelier being bold enough to ask for Avery’s clothes, Monroe suggesting socks for Avery instead of her shoes and Terpstra insisting she was being called to Haiti. “How many people had to be obedient to God to get Avery’s shoes to where they needed to be?” she said.
Eyes opened to crisis Bachelier saved Avery’s shoes for Denise, a girl who was the victim of voodoo customs in Haiti whereby the oldest daughter is sacrificed, McCarthy said. Patterns are cut in their faces with razor blades, and Denise was so traumatized by what had been done to her that she wasn’t verbal. McCarthy met Denise on her first trip to Haiti. “I met the little girl who got Avery’s shoes,” she said. One of the first phrases she learned to say was “Avery’s shoes,” McCarthy said. On that trip in 2014, McCarthy fell in love with Haiti and returned to the orphanage five more times over the next couple of years. On her trips, she learned about many things she “was not OK with,” she said. Among them were that three full-time staff members cared for 120 kids at the orphanage and the children there were not true orphans. They had parents but were orphans of poverty, meaning their parents could not afford to take care of them, McCarthy said. She also learned that of the 760 orphanages in Haiti, only 15 percent of them were registered. The rest have no oversight and are open to corruption and abuse, she said. McCarthy recalled her time as a poor, single mom who didn’t have money for electricity or hot water at times and accepted public assistance and low-income housing. As difficult as it would be, she said, if she lived in a country without such programs and having her children being taken away from her was the only way to make their lives better, she would do it. Of the 120 kids at the orphanage, McCarthy said, 60 percent of them are under the age of 6. Older kids are often kicked out for minor infractions, she said, and are subject to abuse under the guise of discipline. Physical and sexual abuse by staff members
and older residents is rampant, she said. The orphanages operate on sponsorships, and the cute 2-year-olds whose pictures most people are drawn to –not the ones like Alfonsine that Avery picked – bring in the most money, McCarthy said. McCarthy thought, “Lord, you brought me out here, I fell in love with this country, and now I hate it,” she said. McCarthy also learned that girls who leave the orphanages when they become young women have a 70 to 75 percent change of being sexually assaulted. Older men prey on the girls, waiting outside the orphanages to “take care of them” when they leave, she said. “The bottom line is this is human trafficking,” she said.
Avery’s House Amid her loathe of the circumstances the young women were in, McCarthy said, God put a “weird thought” in her head – she was going to a build a house in Haiti for older, at-risk girls to get an education. Her idea was to build a home where girls could get an education and be safe from victimization. McCarthy decided, based on her fear of water, that the home would be inland, but, again, she said, God had other ideas. Two blocks away, McCarthy rented a home built by the United Nations in the 1990s in Port de Paix and opened her home for girls.
SUBMITTED PHOTO Fascinating Folks
Though Avery McCarthy was typically content with hand-me-downs, she insisted on these new tennis shoes that were given to a girl in Haiti.
How to help People can donate to the Avery House through AveryDay Ministries, an official 501c3, by sending
checks to P.O. Box 214, Delavan, WI 53115 made out to AveryDay Ministries, via PayPal using the email averydayministries.com or through automatic withdrawals to AveryDay Ministries from their banking institutions.
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SUBMITTED PHOTOS Fascinating Folks
Nathan Wriedt, 17, of Allez Fencing Group in Darien, wins the 2018 US Men’s Division 1A Foil Championship. Above: Wriedt is among the top eight medal recipients in the 2018 US Men’s Division 1A Foil Championship.
Darien fencing club member wins men’s national championship Nathan Wriedt, of the Allez Fencing Group in Darien, took first place in the USA Fencing Nationals and July Challenge event in St. Louis last summer. Wriedt triumphed in the direct elimination tournament and became the 2018 USA Men’s Division 1A Foil Champion after being seeded 14th out of nearly 150 fencers. “Everyone is very proud of all Nathan has accomplished,” said his coach Sabine Harmann. “His championship is proof that hard work pays off” Wriedt started fencing at 11 years old at Allez Fencing, fenced in his first local youth tournament in September 2012 and competed in his first national event in 2014. As a high school freshman in fall 2014, Wriedt competed on the Great Lakes Fencing Conference high school circuit and made varsity status, earning first and second place finishes at events consistently for the remaining three years. Wriedt also began training at Ataba Fencing Club in Oconomowoc in the past few years and visits Rockford Fencing Club for added practice. He was 16th in cadet at the 2016 Summer Nationals, 31st in junior event at North American Cup in January 2017 and 10th at Junior Olympics in February 2017. Earning the 2018 national title is the final achievement for the recent high school graduate before he begins fencing for Ohio State University in the National Collegiate
Athletic Association. At the national tournament, fencers are split into pools of seven in the first round of competition and fence to five touches against each opponent in their pool. Wriedt had a 5-1 win-to-loss record putting him at 23rd of 142 fencers after pools. From pool play fencers are promoted onto a direct elimination table of bouts fenced to 15 points. In direct elimination play, Wriedt faced tough East Coast opponents and defeated Stephen Jackson, of Long Island, New York, 15-1, Niles Liu, of Boston, 15-7, Jonathan Liu, of Boston, 15-7, and Miles Field, of New York City, 15-4, to make the top eight and put him in the medals. In quarterfinals Wriedt fenced Jake Hempe, of Long Island, New York, winning 15-9. He defeated Brian Park, of New York City, in the semifinals 15-9 to advance to the gold medal round. The final round between Wriedt and Bin Huang, of Marx Fencing Academy in Concord, Mass., was live streamed worldwide by USA Fencing on Facebook. In the match, Wriedt led early 7-2. Huang came from behind to tie the match 12-12 at the end of the first period. The fencers traded touches for a sudden death outcome. Wriedt took the final point and the title. “It’s a good start,” said Wierdt. “I’m looking forward to fencing internationally and fencing with Ohio State in the NCAA this fall.”
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Delbrook receives $1.7 million bequest By Michael S. Hoey CORRESPONDENT
Delbrook Golf Course received a $1.7 million be-quest on behalf of Earl, Charlotte and Pat A. Nelson this year. Patricia Lane Smith, a cousin of Pat Nelson, presented the donation to the Delavan Common Council on Jan. 15. Smith said Nelson passed away on June 23 and she is the trustee of Nelson’s charitable remainder unitrust. Smith said Delbrook was named as the beneficiary and Nelson explicitly stated the funds should be used for capital improvements to the course. “Pat wanted to improve the course itself and make it a real top-notch course for future golfers,” Smith said. “Perhaps we can work together in order to accomplish that.” Smith said she was aware the city has already been improving the course with new sand traps and other things. She said she would soon sit down with Mayor Mel Nieuwenhuis and city staff to discuss what future improvements could be made with the funds. According to Smith, Nelson’s parents – Earl Nelson and Charlotte Flood Nelson, both pillars of the community. Pat Nelson grew up in Delavan, and attended Delavan High School and Marquette University. Her parents eventually moved to Venice, Florida and she followed. Smith said Earl and Charlotte Nelson were both avid golfers and Charlotte in particular loved Delbrook. Nieuwenhuis said he was speechless other than to thank Nelson. Alderman Bruce DeWitt said the donation should make for an exciting future for Delbrook. “Words cannot describe how thankful we are of the donation,” Nieuwenhuis said after the meeting. “This will have a great impact on making improvements to Delbrook Golf Course,” Nieuwenhuis added. “I look forward to our next golf commission meeting in February to discuss the needs of Delbrook.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO Fascinating Folks
A trust bequest of up to $1,668,000 for future improvements to the Delbrook Public Golf Course on behalf of Earl, Charlotte, and Pat A. Nelson is presented on Jan. 15 following the Common Council meeting. Pictured are City of Delavan Mayor Mel Nieuwenhuis, Nelson family representative Patricia Lane Smith and her husband, and Delbrook golf pro Dan Piecha.
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Delavan-Darien inducts first Hall of Fame class By Michael S. Hoey CORRESPONDENT
Delavan-Darien High School inducted its first class into its Athletic Hall of Fame last fall at Lake Lawn Resort. The class was honored at the final D-DHS football game of the season the night before, then treated to a reception, dinner and program. Inductees were:
Brad Alberts
Brad Alberts was a two-time Southern Lakes Conference basketball player and was also allconference in baseball during his junior season. He co-captained the football team in 1987 as a senior and was a third-team all-state selection that year. Alberts participated in the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association all-star game in 1988 and won the J. Arthur Moran Award given to the high school’s outstanding senior athlete in 1988. Alberts went on to become a three-time all-Midwest Conference and two-time National Association Basketball Coaches all-district player for Ripon College. Alberts led Ripon to back-to-back Midwest Conference titles during his career and his teams participated in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament in 1991 and 1992. Alberts now serves as president of the Dallas Stars Hockey Club and president of the Texas Stars, an American Hockey League affiliate of the Dallas Stars. Alberts has spent more than 20 years in professional sports in leadership roles.
Toni Breidenbach
Toni Breidenbach lettered in swimming, basketball, softball and track while attending D-DHS. She was the Southern Lakes Conference most valuable player in basketball during her senior season and was the first female recipient of the J. Arthur Moran Award. Breidenbach went on to earn 12 letters at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in four sports and was the first female athlete to receive all-conference recognition in three sports – softball, basketball and field hockey. Her 12 letters at UW-Whitewater were also the most ever to be awarded to a female athlete. Breidenbach led the Warhawks to conference championships in 1980 and 1981 and into the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women tournament during her senior season. Breidenbach played softball for four years at Whitewater and earned all-conference honors at shortstop in her junior and senior seasons. She was a co-captain of a team that earned a berth in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women national tournament in 1980.
Beauford Briedenstein
Beauford Briedenstein coached basketball at D-DHS for 25 years. His teams won six conference championships, four Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association regional
titles and one district championship. He was also named SLC coach of the year twice, inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2011 and was awarded the Coach Gold Award presented by Scholastic Magazine in the Franklin Select Circle in 1989.
Brad Grabow
Brad Grabow was a nine-time letter winner at D-DHS in baseball, basketball and football. He was an all-SLC selection in all three sports. Grabow still holds the alltime basketball rebounding record at D-DHS. He was named conference most valuable player in basketball and baseball. Grabow threw two no-hitters during his D-DHS baseball career. He, at one time, held the school record for pass receptions in a season at 41 and for a football career at 81. Grabow was voted all-state in football as a senior and played in the Shrine all-star game. Grabow also won the J. Arthur Moran Award. Grabow returned to Delavan and coached football for 15 years at D-DHS and two years with the Red Devils youth program.
Bruce Mowery
Bruce Mowery coached soccer at D-DHS from 1995 to 2011. His boys teams won 311 games against 81 losses and 16 ties for a winning percentage of more than 75 percent. Those teams won nine SLC titles, 11 WIAA regional titles, five sectional championships, three state runners-up titles, and the first team state championship in school history in 2000. Mowery was selected Wisconsin Coach of the Year for Division 2 and was the Midwest High School Coach of the Year in 2000. In 14 years coaching girls soccer, Mowery won 10 SLC titles including eight in nine years. Those teams went 104-24-6 and won two WIAA regional titles. Mowry was also the director of the Delavan Youth Soccer Organization before coaching at D-DHS and was instrumental in starting the Comet Classic soccer tournament.
Denise (Jonuksa) Osborne Denise Osborne played varsity tennis as part of a double team as a freshman and reached the WIAA sectional that year. She also qualified for sectionals as an individual as a junior. In track, Osborne qualified for
the WIAA state track meet in the 100-meter dash and the long jump twice. Osborne started gymnastics when she was 3 years old. While in sixth grade, she qualified for the Regional Junior Olympic Team as a Level 10 gymnast. In high school, she won the WIAA state title in the “allaround” category and medaled gold in the floor exercise and vault, silver on the bars and bronze on the balance beam. After high school, Osborne was offered a full scholarship to Northern Illinois University for gymnastics. She still shares the school record in the vault.
Rion Epping
Rion Epping was a four-year letter winner in swimming and a one-year letter winner in cross country during his junior year. He was voted swim team MVP four times and cross country MVP the one year he competed. Epping won eight individual conference swim titles and set school records in the 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle. Epping was a state swim champion five times, winning the 500-yard freestyle three times. He qualified for junior nationals four times, won three junior national championships and set the Northeast Junior National Meet Record in the 1,650-meter freestyle race. He competed at six national championships, two U.S. Opens and the 2000 USA Swimming Olympic Trials. Epping later returned to Delavan to coach boys and girls swimming and led two swimmers to three individual state titles.
Ron Bronson
Ron Bronson began his career as a business education teacher and football coach at D-DHS in 1965. He went on to coach for 50 years. Bronson’s football teams won conference championships seven times and his 2010 team advanced to the WIAA Division 3 state semi-finals. He was an assistant coach for the 1997 Wisconsin Football Coaches Association all-star game and was inducted into the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2014. Bronson played college football at UW-Whitewater and was a four-year letter winner. He played on a conference championship team in 1962 and was a cocaptain in 1964. He also played for the semiprofessional Delavan Red Devils for three years.
Tom Becker
Tom Becker was a standout athlete in three sports. He was a soccer midfielder on four conference champions, was named first-team all-conference three times, and was the conference player of
the year during his senior season. In basketball, Becker was named firstteam all-conference three times and was named Player of the Year twice. He won a conference title as a junior and, as a senior, played on the team that set a school record for wins at 21. Becker is the school’s all-time leader in points (1,058) and steals (218). He played for one year at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee before transferring to Ripon College where he earned conference player of the year and was named a Division 3 hoops all-American as a senior. Becker was named all-state in soccer, basketball and tennis and won eight conference titles and one state title. He led the Comets to the school’s first team state championship in soccer in 2000 and won the J. Arthur Moran Award.
Matt Becker
Matt Becker was a 10-time letter winner at D-DHS. He earned four letters in soccer and tennis and two in basketball. Becker was a two-time allconference soccer and basketball player and played on three SLC championship soccer teams. He earned a trip to the WIAA sectional meet in tennis in 1995. Becker was captain of the 1994 soccer team, the first D-DHS team to advance to a state tournament in more than 40 years. That team finished as the state runners-up. Becker was a J. Arthur Moran Award winner and attended Ripon College. While at Ripon, Becker played soccer and basketball. He was the captain of two Midwest Conference championship teams in both sports, and two of his basketball teams participated in the NCAA tournament. Becker was named All-Midwest League twice in basketball and soccer, was the SN Pickard Award winner for best male athlete and is a member of the Ripon College Hall of Fame.
Wallace Zimmerman
Wallace “Blackie” Zimmerman coached football at D-DHS for 30 years, 28 years as the head coach. His teams won 155 games, six conference championships and had four undefeated seasons. Zimmerman was named coach of the year six times. Zimmerman was also the head track coach for 24 years and won six championships. Zimmerman also served as the head swimming coach for four years, an assistant basketball coach for four years and an assistant coach for baseball for nine years. Zimmerman was an all-conference center in football at La Crosse State Teachers College in 1942. Zimmerman was included in the Who’s Who Among American College Universities in 1947, was awarded an honorary letter award from D-DHS in 1976 and won the Elk of the Year award in 1978 from the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Zimmerman was inducted into the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1982 and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Wall of Fame in 1984.
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345465
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Page 11
Delavan native shares memories on 60-year pageant anniversary Miss Wisconsin contestant snuck letters from Moscow to home By Jennifer Carlson CONTRIBUTOR
T
here are anniversaries that one eagerly looks forward to, and then there are anniversaries one tries not to remember or totally forgets about until reminded. For Delavan native Mary Jo O’Brien Reston, it was a complete surprise when told last summer that it was 60 years ago when she competed in the 1958 Miss Wisconsin pageant. “I remember it well, but I guess I totally forgot that it was indeed 60 years ago,” Reston said from her home in Sarasota, Fla. In fact, the 81-year-old said she would just as well forget SUBMITTED PHOTOS Fascinating Folks about the state pageant all The 1958 Miss Wisconsin contestants are (from left) Miss Milwaukee Carmen Elaine Shields; Miss Kenosha together. Carol Llavone Swan; Miss Wauwatosa Karen Gale Rattray; Miss West Wisconsin Shirley Jean Swanson; Miss “Well, I did enjoy getting Ripon Gaynell Claire Stafford; Miss Hartford Shirley Jean Wenzel; Miss West Allis Kay Joan Ross; Miss Baraboo to meet the other gals in the Mary Jo O’Brien; Miss Middleton Jane Diane Holzem; and Miss Portage Helen Irene Hamele. The 11th contestant, contest and taking part in the Miss Tomah Jean Marlyn Stoltz, is not pictured. Miss Wisconsin parade, but I really didn’t want to compete for two years and then moved to Washington, addressed to my parents and sent through our for the state title,” she said. “My Miss Wisconsin D.C., where she got a job with the Republican embassy – and have the letter delivered by dad wanted me to enter, and he In the summer of Party’s national committee office. signed me up. my parents to the newspaper. It was never 1958, officials with the Miss While in Washington she met budding “I was very nervous and discovered by foreign authorities.” Jody Reston Wisconsin pageant asked journalist Richard “Dick” Fulton Reston, scared. I never aimed or wanted In 1995, the late W. Gordon Yadon, former Baraboo to send a contestant to the two-day whom she knew from UW-Madison when to be in the Miss Wisconsin pageant. And I Delavan postmaster, historian and columnist, he was the college roommate of her oncedidn’t like the idea of being on display during state pageant finals in nearby Reedsburg. wrote about Reston’s life in his column, The city had no time to host a local Miss boyfriend, future Wisconsin Congressman swimsuit judging.” “Vignettes.” Baraboo pageant, so Baraboo-based Redigas William Steiger, of Oshkosh. Despite trepidations and uncertainty, she Aram Public Library Director Anita Inc., a bulk propane natural gas company She worked as a department manager met the state pageant challenges as she did O’Brien uncovered some of Reston’s known then for sponsoring Baraboo youth in for Blue Cross-Blue Shield when Mary Jo with most things that she had encountered columns in the library’s archives. various events and competitions, appointed O’Brien and Richard Reston married in in life – with preparation, a bit of humor In one column dated June 21, 1967, Reston to be the city contestant in the 1958 Washington on Oct. 16, 1965. and always being mindful of other goals, far Reston wrote “You see all types of Russians state pageant. While working as a journalist, Dick higher in life that awaited her. at the ballet, from little old peasant ladies in “There was no Miss Baraboo pageant Reston got a job with the Los Angeles Times their black shawls to young bleached blonde that year,” Reston said, “I was surprised that and was later appointed as bureau chief in Early days dolls in cocktail dresses. I was appointed. It was an honor but very Moscow. The assignment allowed the couple “We seldom go out for dinner because the Mary Jo O’Brien was born on May surprised.” to live in the then-Union of Soviet Socialist food isn’t great and every restaurant in town 16, 1937, at St. Catherine’s Hospital in Reedsburg hosted the pageant from Republics for four years, even if it meant has the same approved menu with the same Kenosha – the first of five children of Edwin 1953 to 1958 after the state had difficulty Mary Jo Reston would no longer be gainfully limited variety of food. It is very common Bart and Evelyn Marie (nee Drinkwater) finding a host city for the event in 1952, and employed. for young Russian men to come to your table O’Brien. Edwin O’Brien was an accountant a La Crosse woman was appointed as Miss and insist that you dance, even if you are with However, Reston, who was a high in the Kenosha area and later became the Wisconsin without a pageant. a date or husband, and I have danced some school-age columnist for the Delavan representative for the Socony-Vacuum While many did not know it at the time, pretty wild dances.” Enterprise, found a way to use her talents Oil Co., serving filling stations in the Reston and the others were competing in the Two months later, Reston, who learned as an interviewer, writer and storyteller to southeastern portion of the state. last Miss Wisconsin pageant to be held in Russian before relocating to the Iron Curtain let readers back home in Wisconsin know When that job brought O’Brien to the Sauk County. nation, included this in her column published what life was like in Moscow. To escape the Delavan area, he and the family moved to After all 11 women had competed in each local Russian government censors, Reston Aug. 10, 1967: the city, living in various locations, including judging category, the announcement came “Although this is an atheistic society, wrote letters to her parents sent via the U.S. Fourth Street, Racine Street and McDowell for the naming of the runners-up and Miss Sunday is still the day of rest and all shops Embassy that became near-monthly “Letters Street. Wisconsin of 1958. are closed. The Russians really enjoy their From Moscow” columns. “I lived in Delavan from age 6 to 18. We It came as a surprise to Reston when she They all began with “Dear mom and dad,” Sundays and get out in the fresh air in both moved a lot when we were younger because heard her name announced as the second winter and summer. and ended “Love, Jody.” However, it was of our growing family,” Reston said. “We runner-up. “The most popular place to walk in the words within that column, replete with always needed a larger house. “I didn’t expect it. I was surprised I did so gossip, history and examples of daily life of Moscow is Gorky Park, and on Sundays, the “Then we moved to Baraboo because of well,” she said 60 years later. park is jammed full. A little farther on in the the Russian citizens, that enthralled even the his job soon after my high school graduation After the pageant, Reston, who never park there was a lecture going on about world most jet-setting traveler. in 1955.” thought that she would compete in a beauty “Because a set number of U.S. press were affairs – the typical communist propaganda As a child, Reston said she enjoyed competition, returned home to Baraboo with about the Vietnam War and the Middle allowed in Moscow at any given time, the attending the circus when it was staged a second runner-up scholarship, trophy and a same number of Russian press were allowed East crisis. I stood and listened to the antiin Delavan. In a span of her lifetime, she weekend of memories. Western arguments as long as I could, but in the United States,” Reston said. “Thus I has now lived in all three of the most Half-jokingly, Reston said she “would my endurance is terribly short for this kind of wasn’t allowed to write as an official U.S. recognized “circus cities” of the United have died” had she been named Miss thing.” press member in Russia. States – Delavan, Baraboo and now Sarasota, Wisconsin. Jennifer Carlson, of Kenosha, is a “I had made the arrangement with the Fla., which is known as the headquarters of genealogist who explored O’Brien Reston’s Delavan Enterprise, when I visited my the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Road to Russia history along with seven to 10 other parents before leaving for Moscow, that Circus as well the home of Circus Arts After her graduation from UW-Madison in I would write columns to them – always researchers and Aram Public Library staff. Conservatory and the Ringling Museum. 1959, Reston taught at a Beloit middle school
Page 12
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